A Dream Long Forgotten
by Deanna Janeway
Summary: Dylan has lost sight of his dream. Beka and Rafe are up to usual mischief. An AU story. Please R & R
1. To Start A Winless War

"It's not going to work!" Harper mused from behind the pilot chair. Beka sat with her hands on the controls, gently pushing them through the asteroid field that had been waiting for them from the slip point. They were following Rafe in a stolen star fighter, who had a plan to steal the sacred Chord of the Guard. "I'm telling you," Harper insisted, "Rafe's plan is as good as aquaman."

"What's Aqu- never mind. It'll work. Rafe actually thinks these things over." Beka concentrated on the task at hand. She was the best pilot in the galaxy. Well, she was probably the best pilot in the universe. The controls were like extensions of her own arms, and she could utilize them with about as much effort. "It's the only thing he thinks over." Beka looked through the window as if she were thinking about how her brother used to be, before Ignatius had banished him. The runaway thief used to be a carefree boy. But worries and concern had etched his face, and when he smiled any of the 200 or so documented ones, the skin around his eyes crinkled as though he were laughing at some long-forgotten joke. Now he sat, a tense criminal, in a star fighter that just happened to be stolen.

"I still have my doubts." Harper stressed, his tool belt weighing him down. "I mean, just yesterday this guy was stealing your music… and now you trust him?" Harper shook his head, pinching his nose with his fingers. "I just don't get it."

"You don't have to get it, Harper." Beka said harshly, straining against the seat belts, whilst narrowly missing several asteroids. "He's family and he wanted my help."

"You're only doing this for your piece of the prize," Harper teased, a crooked smile on his face. "An artefact like the Chord of the Guard is insanely expensive. And assuming you'll get a third-"

"Half." Beka said. "I get half. You're lucky if you get anything." She smiled into the view screen as she dodged another asteroid. They were almost clear of the field now. Rafe's star fighter was only a few light seconds away.

"Well then, assuming you get half, because your brother is oh-so-generous, you could retire and never have to go salvaging again. Just think of it. You, me- or at least, you, and me off somewhere surrounded by babelicious ladies-"

"Harper?"

"Yeah Boss?" He quickly replied, used to the phrase.

"Shut up." Beka said, keeping her eyes trained on the screen. "And… We've cleared the asteroid field."

Harper silently thanked the gods he didn't believe in and leaned on the side of the pilot's chair. He popped the lid of a sparky cola and took a sip. They had been doing salvage runs ever since Captain Dylan Hunt of the starship Andromeda had lost his sight of the new Commonwealth and had given up. They hadn't seen him in years, and, though the Eureka Maru was home, they both had times where they wished they were back on the Andromeda. It's lovely spacious halls were ideal for leg-stretching, and Harper obviously missed his greatest creation, Rommie. And even though she never admitted it, Beka missed the strong-willed man that led them through the halls, and guided them through some tough parts of their lives.

"Beka! Rafe on line two." Harper called from behind her, through a mouth of sparky cola.

"Patch him through," Beka replied, catching up with Rafe's ship.

A garbled image of her brother appeared on a small screen next to her. The image pieced itself together. "Hey booster rocket. One more slip and we're there. I'll send you the plan in detail in a sec." The screen went black again.

A red light blinked on the panel on front of Harper, and he downloaded the encoded message. Holding up the new flexi, he shook his head. "Uh, no way. This is a suicide mission. He can't really expect to do this, can he?" He chucked the flexi at Beka. It seems that Rafe's plan included pissing off the local faux-High Guard and sacrificing one of the ships to cause a diversion. While the other ship got past ten layers of security and traps.

"Um, I don't know." Beka ran a hand through her now-brown hair. "I guess he can. We wouldn't be trying if he didn't know that we had a good chance of coming out on top." She tossed the flexi over her shoulder and Harper caught it with an oomph.

Rafe's voice crackled over an apparently open communication line. "We can do it, don't worry little man. We'll be in and out so quickly you won't have time to hatch a Magog."

Harper winced. The larvae inside him had been paralysed by an overdose of his medication, and he planned to keep it that way. Or, even better, to get them out of him once and for all.

"Fine, let's do this." Beka said, cruising into a slip point.

Seconds later, they were in a system with a few uninhabitable planets and a few normal ones. Rafe shot out of the slip point a moment later, and continued on a course to the Maru. "I'll be over in a few seconds and then we can start."


	2. Pain For Future's Lost

Captain Dylan Hunt was tired. He was over 300 years old, after all. Not just that, but people in this new time just didn't understand what it was like to have peace. And so, he had none.

Rommie appeared in holographic form in front of him, flickering. "Dylan, you should be doing something." She crossed her arms and tapped a holographic foot.

"Like?" He asked, the tone of his voice making it evident that he had given up. He didn't have anything to strive for anymore. Nothing to live for.

"Like eating, bathing, or exercising. I may not be a human, but I know that they can't survive this long without movement." She tapped her foot again. "Dylan? Move."

"Five more minutes," Dylan sighed, getting up anyway. He was dressed in his basketball clothes, the only thing he had other than his High Guard uniform. He had come to the realization that he couldn't wear them anymore. Technically there was no High Guard. But still, he missed the warmth of the starchy blue suit.

"Rommie?" Dylan asked, slowly eating his rations. He mulled something over in his head before continuing. "I don't think I want to live anymore." He dropped his head to his hands and sighed. Rommie hadn't seen her Captain this upset since the Engine of Creation had almost torn his life from him.

"Dylan, don't talk like that." A tear rolled down her perfect face. "You know what will happen to me if you die." She snivelled and wiped her eyes. "I don't want to end up like my sisters." She started sobbing, and Dylan stood up respectively. He walked to the holograph and was going to embrace it but remembered he couldn't. He had tried once and ended up hugging himself, which was not nearly as comforting as hugging an android.

"I'm sorry." He said, tears blurring his eyes too. "I didn't mean-"

"I know what you meant." Rommie said, trying to hold back her tears. "I think it's very selfish of you. Extremely selfish. How do you think I would survive without you? I don't have Harper anymore. He can't fix me. I don't have a crew. I'm barely functioning as it is… I just… without a Captain I would have to spend every day for the rest of eternity wondering if anybody would ever find me." She cried softly and Dylan cursed himself silently for being so self-centred. She may be a ship, but Andromeda was more than that. She was the only family Dylan had left.

"I'm sorry." Dylan said. And silently in his mind, but loud enough for Rommie to pick up, he said "I mean it."


	3. Ignite the Torch of Hope

"Why do you drink that stuff?" Rafe asked, walking into the Eureka Maru's bridge.

"It just happens to be the elixir of life," Harper replied quickly, chugging down another can and then tossing it behind him. It landed with a clink on the metal walkway.

"So, the plan?" Beka questioned from her perch in the pilot's chair.

"Yes," Rafe smiled and brought his hands together in front of him, cracking his knuckles excitedly. "I have a remote-controlled star fighter out there, just waiting for my signal." He waved a small grey controller in the air, and gave smile #157, the 'I'm proud of myself' smile.

"Haha, that's funny," Beka faked a laugh, her face becoming serious. "I give the orders. This is my ship. So I say when your brainless buddy flies." She raised an eyebrow as if to say 'are we clear?'

"Right," Rafe said, nodding almost imperceptibly. "I forgot." He handed the small remote to Beka sheepishly.

"And where are we going from here, Mr Forgetful?" Harper chimed in, popping the top of yet another sparky cola. It fizzed violently for a second.

"Bearing 120 degrees for a light minute. Beka, as soon as we start that we gotta send the star fighter out." He tilted his head forward and attempted puppy-eyes. "Of course, it will be easier for you if I control the drone…" He looked up slowly and met Beka's glare with smile #37, the 'I'm going to get what I want and you know it' smile.

"Fine. Just don't do anything stupid." Beka maintained her glare and tossed him the remote. She swivelled in her chair and clicked her seat belt. "Off we go," she said, more sarcastically than usual.

* * *

_Ding_, the door chimed softly, letting Dylan know that someone was outside. "Come in," Dylan said through the pillow that his head was presently buried in. The doors slid open and Rommie's android avatar walked in, immediately turning around to face the door. Captain Dylan Hunt was half-asleep on his bed, wearing only his pajama shorts.

"Um, Dylan- I- I was just-" Rommie stammered, trying to give her Captain privacy.

"Coming to check on me?" Dylan asked, now sitting on his bed, pulling on a long-sleeved shirt.

"Actually, not this time Dylan." Rommie said, turning around now that her Captain was dressed. "I was just coming to tell you in person that we're being hailed. By the High Guard."

Dylan dropped the food he was pretending to eat, and gazed blankly at the wall. "What do you mean?" He asked, turning his gaze to Rommie.

"I mean," Rommie smiled, her hair swishing back and forth, "That the _High Guard _is hailing us." She could feel how happy Dylan was at the news.

"But they don't-" Dylan trailed off.

"Yes, they do." Rommie nodded softly, her hands clasped behind her back.

"Can you… Can you patch it through to my quarters?" Dylan asked, still at a loss for words. The thing he had finally given up hope of finding had just contacted him. He had lost sight of his goal, but now it was clear again. He wasn't the only person who believed in the Commonwealth. His dream was achievable again.


	4. The Chord

An explosion rocketed outward from the site where Rafe had sent the drone. Its soundless mushroom quickly encapsulated the whole view screen in a flash of extremely bright light. In seconds it was gone, replaced again by the eternal blackness that was space. Harper uncovered his eyes to see that a shockwave was rapidly approaching them. It hit the Maru with the intended effect, rocking it back and forth violently. Rafe fell over onto a pile of Sparky cola cans, the cans themselves flying through the air and noisily knocking into things.

Beka steered the Maru through the debris of the explosion carefully. "Rafe," she called through gritted teeth.

He stirred in the pile of cans and sat up slowly. His hair was not unlike that of a child who just woke up. "Yeah booster rocket?" He asked, flashing smile #74, the 'crap I'm dizzy,' smile.

"You gotta tell me what we're looking for!" Beka braced herself on the controls as another large piece of space debris flew towards them. It bounced off of the Maru's shields harmlessly.

"Um…" Rafe mumbled, sounding a lot like a drunken idiot. "A little black box. In space. Its…" He trailed off. He was staring at the view screen. A little box about the size of a shoe box floated past the window slowly. It had gold rimmed edges and looked like it had been through a battle. Which it had. "That one!" He said, rising to his feet, pointing at the box.

"On it boss!" Harper said, manoeuvring a drone to collect it. The small drone propelled itself from the ship on an intercept course with the box.

"Rafe!" Beka yelled from the pilot's chair.

"Cap'n?" He called from his perch behind her. He was leaning on the chair, arms folded and legs crossed.

"What the hell is this thing anyway?" Beka asked. She had heard of it, the Chord of the High Guard, but she didn't actually know what it was.

"It's expensive. And I've got a buyer." Rafe said, flashing smile #81, the 'of course I've planned it out' smile. Beka frowned at him. "Ok, ok. It's like… a music box. Or something. From the lost world of Tarn Vedra." He looked at her proudly. "It's got Vedran technology in it Beka. Genuine Vedran technology." He nodded enthusiastically. "I haven't got the slightest idea what it does, but I know it's got it."

"That's helpful." Beka said sarcastically. "So helpful in fact, that the high guard that's approaching our ship probably knows more about it that I do." She motioned towards the view screen, where a fleet of small High Guard ships was closing in on them.

"Hmm." Rafe screwed his face up and scrutinized the ships. "Yeah, that might be a problem."

"Harper?" Beka called through the communications channel. "Have you got it yet?"

"I'm working on it boss. I'll have it in ten seconds. Nine. Eight. " He paused. "Just kidding. Now I'll have it in ten."

"Harper, problem?" Beka demanded, taking on the role of pushy captain.

"Uh… there might be something wrong with the drone's engines…" Beka sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Harper. I want that box. And I want it now." She looked up to the controls. "I'm being hailed. Stay on the line."

"Will do boss." Harper replied cheerfully as Beka transferred the communication to the view screen. An ugly half-human, half-Nietzschean face peered out at her. She drew in a sharp breath. This was one of the guys who had caught them two months ago, while they were salvaging an old vessel. Let's just say, the Valentine's weren't too happy to be caught, and they made that clear, with a few minor explosions, and lots of major ones.

"Ah, Valentine. We meet again," He smiled, and it crinkled a scar that had recently appeared on the corner of his face. "I don't recall you being so explosive."

"I don't recall you being so ugly." She shot back.

"How charming of you," the Nietzschean said. "Too bad I'll have to kill you. Wouldn't want to waste such a charming young lady." He smiled creepily.

"Ha, ha funny. Too bad you're not going to have a chance to." Beka closed the comm line and collapsed back into the pilot's chair. "Well that was fun. Harper? How you doing?"

"Boss I got the box," You could practically hear his smile. "Warp speed ahead captain!"

"What the hell is- nevermind." Beka said, pushing the control sticks forward to propel the ship faster away from the Nietzscheans.


	5. The Masks of Men

"So what you're saying is that you got blown up?" Dylan asked the 'high guard'.

"Well, when you put it that way we sound inferior. Which I assure you we are not." Dylan frowned at the voice. He had had quite enough of High Guard wannabes.

"You can leave now." Dylan said quietly, trying to be composed.

"But sir, we needed to-"

"Leave." Dylan paused. "And don't come back until you _act _like the High Guard too." The 'guard' that he was talking to had just blown up a small slave world, and then proceeded to get smashed by the respective planets' defence forces.

Dylan signalled to Rommie for her to cut the communication. She did, and he sighed.

"Dylan, I know that this isn't what you expected but-"

"But what?" Dylan countered, angry and completely out of character.

"But you've got to realise that they were just mislead. A lot like you Dylan."

He smiled faintly and looked towards her face. "Thanks. I think. Can you do me a favour Rommie?" He asked, a hint of sadness painting his face.

"Yes Dylan. Anything." Rommie looked at him with curiosity.

"Can I have a hug?" Dylan stood up and opened his arms. Rommie nodded softly and embraced him. Even though she was an android, Dylan could feel all the love and affection of a normal hug. He rested his chin on the top of her head. "Thanks Rommie," He said quietly.

"Anything for you, Dylan."

* * *

"So, we blew up a few ubers. Who cares?" Harper shrugged. "Am I right Rafe?" Rafe nodded and then looked back to the box. Beka was with them in the cargo bay now, and they were surrounding the box like little kids crowd around a campfire. Harper realized that no one was listening to him and popped the top of another Sparky Cola can.

"So," Beka said, mesmerized by the ornate beauty of the box. "Should we open it?" She made no attempt to move though.

"Actually, from my angle it says no." Harper said nonchalantly. Beka shot him an ugly look. "Well it does!" Harper whined. "I swear! It says here, in human English, that the only one that can ever open it is…" He trailed off, squinting at the box.

"Is who?" Rafe asked impatiently.

"D… No… Riley? No. That's not it. D… Dylan. Dylan who? Dylan T… no… oh my god!" Harper inhaled violently. "The only person who can open it is Dylan Hunt!" He looked up at Beka, who gasped dramatically.

"Wow, good job Harper. Where is he?" She looked around the cargo bay expectantly. "Oh, wait, that's right. He gave up. He's as good as gone." She hated the way the words made her feel about Dylan.

"Boss, I-" Harper stuttered. "I think we should find him. I mean, if what's in the box is so important. And… I miss him." He looked at Beka with wide eyes.

"I miss him too."


	6. The Gift of Overcoming Greif

Dylan could not believe his luck. First, he had been hailed. He hadn't been hailed in years. Then, he had been hailed _again. _This time, by an old friend. Beka Valentine's face glowed at him from the screen. He had missed her.

"Hey Dylan, just stopping by to see how you were doing." Beka flashed a smile at him. The 'I'm up to something' smile.

"Beka." Dylan laughed. "You would never do that. What do you want from me?"

Beka squirmed in her seat. She blew a piece of hair away from her face. "Permission to come aboard captain?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Granted." Dylan smiled as he saw that Harper was watching in the background. "Bring Harper too."

"Aye Captain!" Beka said with a salute, and then terminated the comm line.

Dylan looked over to where Rommie stood. "I haven't seen you this happy since… I don't even remember when." She smiled happily, latching onto the good mood. "It's good to have you back Dylan." She smiled happily.

"Glad to _be _back." He replied, crossing the room towards her. "And for what it's worth, I'm glad that you stuck by me this long." He hugged her again, and she felt his heart beating to the music in his soul. They didn't pull away until Rommie muttered, "They're here." They separated and Dylan smoothed his clothes. He had put on his High Guard uniform for his first hail, and hadn't taken it off, so as he smoothed it, he felt the soft satin that he missed so much.

* * *

"Whew, its dusty in here," Beka said as she stepped off of the Eureka Maru, setting foot on the hangar bay's floor. "It's like it hasn't been walked on for years." She dusted off her arms, which had already accumulated a layer of silt.

"That's because it hasn't," Dylan spoke up, having just entered the hangar bay.

"Dylan!" Beka smiled and walked towards him briskly, leaving Harper and Rafe to fend the dust off themselves.

"Hey Beka." Dylan said, giving her a quick hug. _Okay, _Beka admitted to herself, _that was an awesome hug. And I have missed him…_

"Good to see you again, Captain," Rafe tipped an imaginary hat towards Dylan, who nodded in reply.

"Dylan!" a voice called from within the Eureka Maru. "You would not _believe _all the stuff we've been up to." A small engineer crawled out of the ship and continued. "I mean, for one, we thought we would never see you again, and also, Rev Bem and Trance left us…. I think they're on a mission for universal peace? Oh yeah, and Tyr… don't get me started on Tyr-"

"Harper?" Beka asked.

"Ya Boss?"

"Shut up." Beka glared at him and he once again obliged.

"So," Dylan said, clasping his hands together in front of him. "What can I do for you guys?"

"Well, we have something that belongs to you." Beka said softly, nodding towards Rafe, who opened a bag and retrieved the box. Dylan's face went blank and he stared. It was as though the clocks had stopped ticking, the sun had stopped setting, and the wind had stopped blowing. This was his. From over 300 years ago. But he still remembered it like it was yesterday.

* * *

_His father had his back to him. "Daddy?" Dylan asked, looking up from his homework. "Why are you packing?" He looked towards his Dad with a question in his eyes. _

"_I've got to go." His father said, facing him at last. The man looked worn, the crow's feet around his eyes deep, from a life of sorrow. Dylan could see tears in his Dad's eyes._

"_Dad? Why are you sad?" Dylan asked, reaching towards his Dad's face. He touched his face childishly, but that gesture made his father weep. _

"_Son, there are things in this world that you will never understand. But understand this. I love you more than anything." That was the last time he saw his father. The summer of next year, his mother told him that his father was actually a Vedran, and that he had to go into hiding for building a sinister technology. The next week, his dad's face was on the news. Dead. Dylan would never again throw a ball to his father, or play a friendly game of space checkers with him. Dylan wouldn't even get to say goodbye. _

_But, his father had planned this, and on his 16__th__ birthday, Dylan got a box. It was ornately carved, and the inscription said "Secrets for only Dylan Hunt, the master of the Guard," a joke he had shared with his father years ago. But, instead of opening it, he had hidden it away, so that his broken heart could heal._

* * *

"Dylan?" Beka woke him from his reverie. "Are you ok?" she frowned and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah. Yeah fine." Dylan looked at the box again. "I just…" he trailed off.

"I'm sorry Dylan." Beka looked at him sincerely. "If I had known you didn't want to see it-"

"No. I do. I just… I haven't opened it yet."


	7. The Will of a Better Man

Now they were sitting on the observation deck, watching the stars shine by. Dylan had come here for some piece of mind, but instead ended up lulling his worried heart with a bottle of Earth's finest wine. Beka had joined him half way through the bottle. But seeing as alcohol was hard to come by, they were both mercilessly drunk.

"Hey," Beka said, swaying slightly. "You know Dylan, when we were gone. I missed you most."

"I missed me most too- I mean… I missed you a lot." Dylan replied, cradling the bottle of wine, or maybe the second, in his lap.

"And you know something?" Beka looked at him with both eyebrows raised. "I kinda like you." She shook her head and her hair turned back to blonde.

"Wow." Dylan said, taking a strand of her hair in his fingers. "Your hair is pretty."

"Haha- Ha. Good one Dylan." Beka laughed. "You're so strong. Like this one time- I remember- you like… oh jeez. I forgot. But you are a strong boy!" She waved a hand in front of her face, frowning slightly, "I didn't know I had _two _hands…"

Dylan looked at his own hands, still holding onto the bottle of wine. "Hands are like, perfect cup-holders."

"Hey, hey Dylan. Have you seen what I can do with my hair?" Beka changed it back to brunette again.

"Wow. Have you seen my force lance?" Dylan reached for his pocket reflexively.

"I don't think so." Beka said, leaning towards him, smiling at the innuendo. Dylan froze, and then leant in towards her. He brushed his lips against hers, and then tilted his head. They kissed for a while, their long-forgotten friendship escalating quickly into love.

When he finally broke away for air he asked, "Would you like to?"

* * *

Rommie did not like what she saw. Sure, her captain had been unresponsive since he gave up his dream, and she did enjoy seeing him walk around like a regular old biped, but things had sure escalated quickly. I mean, one minute, everyone was in the hangar bay, crowded around a box, then the next, and Dylan was hopelessly drunk with Beka Valentine? And on top of this, they kiss? Rommie did not like what she saw at all. And to make matters worse, Rafe was stealing from her, again.

But Dylan had wanted privacy, so even though she knew what he was doing, she couldn't see anything. Well, at least she thought she knew what he was doing. But who knows. Humanoids could be so unpredictable.

But what Rommie didn't know was that Dylan wasn't doing what she thought he was doing. No, he was doing something better. Like a better man would.

He was opening his 16th birthday present.


	8. To Claim a Chord

The box was worn from being toted around the universe. Dylan smiled to himself. Only a Vedran could make a truly impenetrable object like this. It had taken Dylan's voice authorization, his fingerprint, and his DNA to open the box. The lock clicked open softly, and Dylan gripped the corners of the box. Slowly, he opened the lid, raising it so that he could see the things inside. What he saw made his heart skip a beat. In the box were all the things from his childhood that he missed most.

The lid lifted easily, the hinges protected from the outside world. A photo of himself, taken 320 years earlier, smiled back at him. He had an arm around his shoulders. It belonged to his father, a tall man who looked almost exactly like Dylan. They were both smiling at the camera, a genuine happiness in their eyes. Dylan picked up the photo, feeling its glossy finishing in his fingers. He turned it over carefully. There was a message on the back, printed in a familiar fatherly scrawl. It read "You and me at the High Guard museum. Your 10th birthday."

He put the photo down again and pulled out a baseball. "I never did understand the game." He said softly, feeling the laces of the old yellow ball.

"Nobody did," Beka said supportively, staring at the items.

Dylan set the ball aside and took out another object from the box. It was a packet of seeds. The yellowed packet had a picture of a daffodil on the front, and Dylan pinched the bag, feeling the small seeds inside. Beka looked at him questioningly, one eyebrow rose ever-so-slightly.

"Its…" Dylan took another look at the bag. "We used to have a garden together." He could feel his eyes welling at all the memories. He put the bag aside again and looked at the last item in the box. He looked at it for a while, his brow furrowing at its appearance.

"What is it, Dylan?" A curious Beka asked. She was leaning forward over the box, her curly golden hair falling out from behind her ears.

"I… Don't know." Dylan replied. "I haven't seen it before." He reached into the box and withdrew the small watch, letting it's chord fall between his fingers.

It was a small brass pocket watch engraved with his father's initials, JH. He ran his hand over the engraving, feeling the same brass that his father had held more than three centuries ago. A chill ran through his back as he held it, the chord swaying back and forth. He opened it slowly, and his mind was immediately tangled in a hymn that calmed him, the river of sound coursing through his soul. The hymn kept in time with the small ornate clock hands as they ticked around the face of the clock.

"Ah, Dylan?" Beka asked, putting a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her but didn't say anything, a soft smile playing on his lips. "What's so funny?"

He gazed at her for a few seconds more, soaking up the hymn before answering. "Don't you hear that?" She looked at him as though he had just told her that they found a llama in a spacesuit floating around on Deck 9.

"No." She looked at him seriously. He handed her the watch and released his grip, the chord still dangling through his fingers. He let it roll off and pulled back. Beka's face contorted into one of shock, and then pleasure. "Wow." She said, looking at the face of the watch. "Pink Floyd at their finest."

"What?" Dylan asked.

"It's playing my favourite song. By Pink Floyd." Beka looked at him innocently. "Why?"

"It played 'March of the High Guard' for me," He said, staring at the strange watch with a look of concern. Beka handed it back and again it played the soft hymn in Dylan's head, floating on his brainwaves like leaves float in the wind.

He gently shut the pocket watch and the music stopped. He placed the objects back in the box and shut the lid, hearing the little metallic lock click shut.

* * *

"Well," Harper said loudly. "Now we know what the 'Chord of the Guard' is. And also that it's unwinnable. Un-stealable. Un-sellable-"

"Harper?" Beka shot him an angry look. "You're not even using real words anymore."

"Sorry Boss." Harper quietened for a few seconds. "So!" He said rather loudly, making Beka grip her head. "I hear you have a hang-over. And you know what else I hear?" He smiled and wiggled his eyebrows mockingly.

"I hear Booster Rocket got some action!" Rafe called from behind them. Beka's face flushed red, and she covered it with her hand.

"I didn't _do _anything." Beka said through her teeth. "Whoever told you two is a lying piece of-"

"Nobody told us..." Rafe said mischievously, flashing smile # 121, the 'we just caught you out' smile. "You just admitted to it." He crossed his arms and leaned back, proud.

"I didn't. You can ask Dylan himself." She frowned.

"Whoa boss! Dylan?" Harper looked at her like a hurt puppy. "This is just like when Luke and Leia-"

"Yes, genius, who else is on the ship?" Rafe asked jokingly, cutting Harper off while holding back laughter.

"Shut up! Both of you!" Beka erupted, her fists falling to her sides. "We didn't do anything! We just got drunk. Nothing else." She paused for a second. "Well, we kissed- But that was it!" She frowned at them both.

"Beka and Dylan," Rafe muttered under his breath. "Sitting in a tree…" He looked up with a wicked smile. "K-I-S-S-I-N-"

"Shut up!" Beka squealed, then turned on her heel and walked the other way.

"But Booster-"

"No 'buts' Valentine!" She continued walking, and then stopped dead in her tracks. "And I want my albums back. Especially my Pink Floyd."


End file.
